Iran a threat, US should consider diplomacy: Obama

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Iran remains a genuine threat to the United States but Washington must be "willing to initiate diplomacy" with the Islamic republic, president-elect Barack Obama said Friday.

"I have said in the past during the course of the campaign that Iran is a genuine threat to US national security," Obama said during a press conference in which he announced his picks for the administration's two top intelligence posts.

"But I have also said that we should be willing to initiate diplomacy as a mechanism to achieve our national security goals."